Cardiac CT

A rapidly advancing
technology in the noninvasive evaluation of heart disease, cardiac CT provides
X-ray-based information on the structure and function of the heart and its
vessels. Similar to cMRI, the patient is placed into a large “doughnut” that
contains multiple X-ray transmitters. These transmitters rotate extremely fast
around the body inside the doughnut, and can acquire all required images within
seconds.

The amount of X-ray
delivered to the body is carefully limited to a minimum necessary. A contrast
substance may be given intravenously to enhance image quality. Currently,
cardiac CT is widely used to detect calcifications and blockages of the larger
heart vessels, in addition to general information pertaining to the heart
structures.